Pairing: Seto/Jou
Beta: Daisey - Too good to be true.
Chapter threeSeto sighed as he sipped his drink, watching his employees chatting and laughing with each other. In just one week, it would be Christmas. He would never understand what he’d had in mind when he’d agreed to host a ‘Christmas’ party at the Kaiba Corp. and, even more why he’d agreed to come. Maybe he’d been thinking about the passionate blond and, distracted, he’d signed some misplaced memo.
And there he was, thinking about Jou again. Since that first night at the theater, they’d hung out so many times that it felt as if they were old friends. Nothing more.
The brunette sighed, thinking that he really should take of this situation before his mind went irrational and he did something really stupid. But, Jou’s face flashed before his mind and he knew he would have to hang on until the blond left for America. He had to.
“Alone in the middle of your employees? That’s so typically you, Kaiba.”
The young CEO turned around and frowned, annoyed. “What the hell are you doing here, Otogi?”
“Just checking out the party.”
“Well, you weren’t invited.” Seto replied smugly. “So, if you could show me the kindness of leaving...”
“I brought you a gift, and that’s how you thank me?” said the raven-haired boy, pretending to be wounded by the statement.
“A gift from you? No thanks, dice-boy.”
“But I put so much thought into the gift, Kaiba-boy,” replied Otogi, grinning. He placed a perfectly wrapped, slightly oblong package on the table. “Just open it; it won’t bite you.”
“I hope not.” The brunette glared at the package a moment longer and then sighed and surrendered, picking it up and opening it. His eyes went wide.
Otogi chuckled, amused to no end. “Do you like?”
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“It’s a holiday themed manga! What do you think it is?”
“You forgot the word yaoi. A very explicit yaoi, I must add.”
“So, you did like it! I knew it!” exclaimed the raven-haired CEO. “You’ll like it even more when the puppy in the story appears.”
His last comment made Seto choke on his drink. He coughed and then looked at the other. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Otogi glared at him for a full five seconds before replying.“I think it’s pretty obvious to everybody. Except for Jou, of course.” The brunette just looked away, finishing his drink. The long haired teen sighed deeply. “Look Kaiba, it’s Christmas, right? They say that this is the time of the year when you should speak the truth and listen to your heart and stuff. Don’t you think you should say something before Jounouchi leaves?”
"Did I ask for your advice?” the brunette snapped, annoyed because he knew the other was right.
“Geez. Just a thought.” Otogi finished his own drink. “Well, now that I’ve delivered my gift, I’ll be going. Think about it, Kaiba.”
The CEO watched his business rival leave, and sighed. He was done for the night. He grabbed the manga and stared at it for a minute before chuckling bitterly to himself.
“You are a coward Seto,” he muttered lowly before walking out of the party without another word.
----------
Jou swore that he’d never had so much fun going to the mall. But then, he’d known it would be; everything he did with Shizuka was fun. The fact that Seto and Mokuba were with them had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.
The brunette seemed to compliment his own personality perfectly, and this surprised the teen to no end. They had hung out many times after their encounter at the theater, and the blond found himself falling more and more for the other male. He couldn’t help it. If he’d been drawn to the brunette when he’d thought Kaiba was a prick, now that he knew him better…
Jou stopped in his tracks as soon as the thought entered his mind. He couldn’t be in love with Seto Kaiba!
Jounouchi Katsuya had some serious issues about the feeling called ‘love’. His life’s experiences didn’t give him any good reason to not despise the word, let alone the implications that went with it. His mom, his father, his old gang, all of them had tricked him into feeling as if he was cared about, only to hurt him in the end. Shizuka was the only one who had ever not betrayed his deeply wounded heart- her, and then his friends.
But love like he was feeling now? Never. He’d known something was wrong when his heart had begun to beat faster every time he’d looked at the brunette, or how overly happy he’d felt whenever Seto had helped him. He’d never thought in his wildest dreams that it would happen, but the brunette had assisted him through some pretty tough things.
But now, other questions were filling his mind. Did Seto feel the same way? And, what would he do either way, seeing as he was leaving for America in a few days?
“Nii-san, are you all right?” His sister’s voice woke him from his daydream.
“Ahn?”
“You are something, Jou,” Mokuba giggled. “She was asking if you could go get Seto from that store so she and I can buy your presents.”
“Which store?”
“That one.” The teen pointed to a boutique several yards away.
Jou simply stared at the unusual store. It was not decorated like the other ones, and was simply named ‘Rare gifts’. He sighed and then exclaimed, “Leave it to Kaiba to go to the most bizarre store to pass time!”
“Come on, nii-san, just go over there and wait until we’re done!”
“Alright, fine.” He looked at them a moment longer and then said, “You are not up to anything, are you?”
“You’re so paranoid sometimes, nii-san,” Shizuka answered, rolling her eyes. “Just go!”
The blond glared at them one more time and then headed over to the store. Mokuba started giggling with the girl. “He almost caught us!”
“Yes, but I know how to handle him.” The girl smiled. “Do you know if Otogi-kun gave his gift to your brother?”
“Yes, I saw Seto arrive home with the manga the other night, after the company party. Otogi called me the next morning, telling me how blind they both were, and how all we can do is keep dropping hints and see if one of them will finally make some move. The biggest clue I could think of was the play; if they haven’t gotten it by then, I’m hoping they will by watching the performance.”
“You never told me what the play was about.”
“Let’s find the gifts for them and I’ll tell you on the way.”
Both teens started walking trough the mall again.
----------
Looking in from outside the ‘Rare Gifts’ store, it hadn’t seemed that huge. But, now that he’d actually entered… ‘How on earth am I ever going to find him?’
“I’ll just look for a big coat,” The blonde finally decided. He started to look between the shelves for the familiar trench coat, but his eyes couldn’t help but wander over the different items. The store truly had some of the most bizarre gifts he’d ever seen. One of the items caught his attention and, for some reason, he thought of the brunette. Smiling to himself, he paused at the shelf and picked up the gift. Forgetting that he was supposed to be watching for Kaiba, he headed to the register toward the front of the store. As he came around the last shelf, he found the brunette. Staring at a Christmas tree. A singing, dancing Christmas tree.
“Seto?”
The taller teen turned around and smiled lightly at the blond, pointing the tree.
"This is something I thought I would never see.”
Jou laughed aloud and walked to where he was, stopping beside him. “Are you thinking of buying it?”
“No, this is too bizarre.” He looked at Jou, humor dancing in his eyes. “Even for me.”
“Thank god; I would have had to ask if you’d hit your head or something.”
“But it’s amusing, isn’t it?”
“That’s why you were staring at it?”
“Yeah.” He looked at the other fully now. “Are you buying something?”
Jou nodded and suddenly turned away. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back here in five minutes.”
Seto just blinked at his retreating form. Sometimes, Jou could be stranger than anything he’d ever seen.
----------
They left the store and decided to look for their siblings- a nearly impossible mission in the full mall- not that they minded having the time to themselves. They walked through the crowd, talking and sharing confidences about their plans after graduation and for Christmas.
“You’re saying that you let Mokuba do his Christmas play and give a party, just like that?”
“Did you ever see Mokuba try to plead for anything?” answered Seto.
“Oh, don’t tell me that he does the same trick as Yugi!”
“The same trick?” The brunette arched one elegant eyebrow.
“The ‘puppy-eye’ trick,” said the blond.
“I thought you would use that trick,” the brunette commented without missing a beat.
“Smart ass,” Jou replied with a laugh. Suddenly he became serious. Seto noticed.
“Is something wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just that…” The blond sighed deeply. “Next year, my life will turn upside down.”
“But you’re going to live close to your mother and Shizuka…” The brunette felt a lump starting to form in his throat, but he forced himself to continue. “That’s the most important thing, right?”
Jou didn’t answer right away. Sure, he should be thinking that, but now, this uncomfortable feeling was piercing his heart. Even if they remained only friends, he would miss the young CEO so much…miss their talks, his laugh, that unique smile that he felt sometimes was only for him…
He was starting to doubt his decision about going away, because his heart and his mind were no longer in unison.
TBC
